I don’t want to trivialise the black dog, of course, but we work longer hours than we want to. Smart phones mean we can never get away and are always contactable. We don't get to take our leave. The planet is heading for temperature increases of up to 4°, but the "debate" about reducing carbon emissions and moving to a low carbon economy is trite, dishonest and degrading. Carbon capture and storage was always a fantasy to appease the diggers of coal and the big polluters and now this has been recognized, our own modest carbon reduction targets are unlikely. Political leadership is embarrassing, short-term, populist, petty and without principles - the term itself is an oxymoron. Fiscal austerity or the protection of living conditions? The financial markets are chaotic and unpredictable and our superannuation returns are therefore disappointing and dispiriting. We all have to work longer. Leaving home at 6:45 this morning the traffic into the city is still dreadful. What is it with all those fat bastard climate science denying billionaires having to own their own football teams? Too many idiots are in charge of councils. Councils don't have enough money to pay staff properly, recognise market shortages, train people properly or reward performance. And there’ll be a whole lot of new councillors in September. Bloody hell.

How can things be any worse?

Today is World Refugee Day. And if you are a refugee in Africa, you're too busy trying to survive to think that any of that stuff matters. And there are refugees everywhere.

This morning I attended the UNHCR World Refugee Day breakfast and heard countless stories that were both horrific and inspiring. Kids walking for three weeks with no food or water to the safety of a refugee camp in Kenya - fleeing the bloodshed in South Sudan. Parents murdered, siblings tortured, siblings and friends starving and dying in the escape. Families living, kids growing up, underfed, uneducated, often without access to safe water and sanitation and reliant upon UNHCR and other charitable agencies. Refugees on boats risking everything, burying family and friends at sea, and treated as if they are not valued as human beings.

It’s hard to not let the astonishing bravery, endurance and courage of people fleeing unimagined horrors and for whom there is simply no alternative, be overwhelmed by the dreadful and depressing state of the world that creates the problem in the first place.

Sometimes it doesn't hurt for things to be put into perspective.

depa made a donation towards improved water quality and sanitation in a refugee camp with a population of 94,000 people. It seemed like a good donation at the time but it was really only 33 cents for each member. I hope you don't mind.

Well done, proud that our Association has the heart and courage to try and improve things for these poor souls. The popular press have a lot to answer for and things will only get worse if recent developments in the industry with the potential for removal of free editorial for the more responsible of our newspapers may see us all reading about the poor mining magnates needing donations as well!

chris larkin 6 years 11 months

Gr8 newsletter again robbo et al. The term Political leadership is like that other one trotted out by the pollie "its in the national interest". Yes "bl**dy hell" - i fell like throwing a stubby thru the tele every time I here some one sprout that old chestnut.

Vince Hunt 6 years 11 months

Good to see the world's got its priorities right.Well done Robbo, should have been a dollar each.